Sam Smith Opens Up About His Second Album "The Thrill of It All"

Soulful Brit Sam Smith is poised for a major comeback and after a year and a half of flying under the radar, fans are beyond ready to see what he’s got in store. He’s already piqued interest with his fans with the song “Too Good at Goodbyes,” but in a new Billboard interview, Sam is giving us a better idea of what his sophomore album The Thrill of It All will be about.

It turns out that a lot has changed since the days of “Stay With Me,” and now Sam is ready to show us all his worldview has expanded. He wants to sing about more than just being in love and subsequently being brokenhearted. But don’t expect that to mean happy pop songs for the 14 tracks. “It’s when I go into the studio that I let out my sadness,” he told Billboard while noting that IRL he is a happy person overall. “I find it easier writing sad songs than I do happy ones.”

He added, "It’s bleak. It’s not a happy record."

The singer made headlines earlier in October after he was spotted kissing13 Reasons Why actor Brandon Flynn in New York City. Neither of them have officially commented on the possible relationship, but the internet was quick to react.

Sam also said that this album will reflect a more worldly view, and it won’t be as strictly inward-looking. “The other [songs] are about situations my friends might be going through, or the world in general,” he said.

He connects this idea about the world to a trip he took to Mosul, Iraq. “I spent five days in Mosul and came back embarrassed that I had known so little about the world and other people’s lives. I went back to that great Nina Simone quote, that it is important to speak about the times you live in. I hadn't done that; I’d just written a bunch of songs about love. So I wanted to write about how I’m now starting to open my eyes, at 25, to what is going on in the rest of the world, and that it’s not always pretty.”